Calculating Point Cost

[Gulp]

I haven't spent much time in the customs section. My searches on this topic were fruitless, but I suspect this topic has been discussed.

Has someone already taken the time to figure the average point value of things such as flying, counterstrike, life, attack, etc. so that a customs creator can just add up a unit's stats to reach a point value?

[Agent Minivann]

The best thing to do is give it a point value based on a comparable unit and then playtest, share/discuss here, and then adjust the value as needed. Kick the adjusted point value back into playtesting and repeat until the value feels right. There isn't a magic formula. There used to be a spreadsheet based tool, but it is probably extremely outdated and only gives you a starting point to test.

[Gulp]

Thanks Minivann.

One of my reasons for inquiring is that a friend and I were talking about messing around with custom rules that would allow you to add any abilities you would like, as long as you paid for them. Want to have a flying Jotun? Add 45 points, for example.

Now that I know there's not really an somewhat established system I may mess around with some speculative numbers and see if I can figure out a rough system.

[Rÿchean]

Gulp, the biggest thing is that special abilities when together do not yield the same value as they might separately. For example, if a figure could have disengage and cyberclaw the synergy of those two specials together would outweigh their value separately. So for your example, a flying Juton: given everything else he does, making him a flyer would increase his value more than just the value of the ability to fly. Does that make sense?

Also the old tool that was in place, when you plugged in Charos' stats and abilities, it said he was worth 180pts (which he might be). The point is that no matter how much you tweak a system, the value will still have to be play tested to achieve the right price and balance.

[Gulp]

Originally Posted by Rÿchean

Gulp, the biggest thing is that special abilities when together do not yield the same value as they might separately. For example, if a figure could have disengage and cyberclaw the synergy of those two specials together would outweigh their value separately. So for your example, a flying Juton: given everything else he does, making him a flyer would increase his value more than just the value of the ability to fly. Does that make sense?

Also the old tool that was in place, when you plugged in Charos' stats and abilities, it said he was worth 180pts (which he might be). The point is that no matter how much you tweak a system, the value will still have to be play tested to achieve the right price and balance.

Thanks Rÿchean. Good points. Definitely sounds like a lot more to consider than the original plug-in-stats-and-go theory I had.

[Rÿchean]

That said, I would love to see someone hash out a nice place to start.